Dave148 wrote:While I truly love this spot, I wonder how they're going to survive over the winter with the limited amount of indoor dining space.
at ChicagoReader.com, Mike Sula wrote:The six-page menu is filled with familiar pan-Asian dishes, but it’s important to zero in on the Malaysian ones, particularly two chicken dishes, ayam masak kicap and ayam masak merah; sturdy, full-flavored halal birds, hacked crosswise against the bone, hard fried, then braised in chili and soy, or an herbaceous chili-tomato sauce, respectively.
Otherwise the menu catalogs the most internationally represented Malaysian classics: murtabak, the Indian-style chicken-and-egg-stuffed, pan-fried pancake; or roti paratha, each served with a cup of curried dal. There’s thick beef rendang, its smoldering spice concentrated in its dry braise; and rich coconut milk-based lamb and chicken curries. There are smoky noodle stir-frys, like ribbony char koay teow or the relatively delicate mee goreng; and deep bowls of noodle soup such as Grandma Soo’s curry mee, or the shrimp-based Hokkien mee, each covering the textural bases with a thick egg noodle and thin rice vermicelli combo.
But the menu alone doesn’t reflect what this little kitchen is capable of. It seems like every inch of the walls and windows is covered in full-color posters of less common specials, most of which are available anytime—or at least by advance ordering. (You can also find many on the website, designed by Randazzo’s daughter Michelle.) There’s the Penang assam laksa noodle soup, its broth packing a mackerel punch, and seasoned—when she can get them—with torch ginger lilies. And there’s mee rebus, prawn fritters and noodles in a sweet potato gravy, along with the rich Hakka pork belly and yam dish kiu nyuk. The nasi lemak, Malaysia’s national dish, is made Nyonya-style, the coconut rice grains tinted blue with butterfly pea flower, along with dried anchovy, peanuts, cucumbers, and a heaping serving of ayam Kapitan, or captain’s chicken curry.
Grandma Soo salts the duck eggs for the minced pork congee pei tan chok, and she stuffs bao with barbecue pork, sweet custard, pumpkin, and dried bean paste, while Tony keeps tight control of the desserts, such as the painstakingly constructed, multicolored seven-layer rice flour pudding kuih lapis.
Clicked the link. Reading on my phone, but even if it's not the case on a desktop browser, I find it completely inexplicable that the review doesn't have the address, phone number, hours, and link to their website. What the hell is the Reader doing? I checked because of the comment about the website, knowing that it had changed once before.ronnie_suburban wrote:Sula had a really nice write-up about HD in the Reader last week . .
bweiny wrote:Reading on my phone, but even if it's not the case on a desktop browser, I find it completely inexplicable that the review doesn't have the address, phone number, hours, and link to their website.
ronnie_suburban wrote:*Sigh*
I really wish people wouldn't invoke LTH when interacting with restaurants. It's simply not good practice.
Thanks,
=R=
for the Moderators
Katie wrote:I just noticed something: If you search Google Maps for HD Cuisine, it provides the following link: https://www.hdcuisinewheeling.com/. The Menu link on that page takes you to an online ordering interface, with no photos or descriptions. Okay, but kind of annoying. Practically nothing else on that website except the address and phone number. If this is the online face of the restaurant, it's unimpressive to say the least.
Then I reread this thread and followed the link posted: https://www.hdcuisine.com/, which is the (much more attractive and informative) actual website of the restaurant. Click on the Menu link on that page, and it takes you to an actual page of menu items, photos, and descriptions. That's what I was looking for. (p.s., If you click on the Order Online link on the restaurant's website, it takes you to an online ordering interface, but it's not the same one that Google Maps sends you to.)
I assume this is not unique to HD Cuisine and so maybe is a conversation for another thread (Today's discovery? Restaurants in the era of social distancing?). I'm just surprised to discover that Google Maps is apparently providing links that redirect people to online ordering interfaces rather than actual restaurant websites. I wonder how many times I've fallen for this in the past. Do the restaurants consent to this? Maybe so. Maybe they have no say in the matter. My gripe here, just to be clear, is with Google Maps, not with this HD Cuisine or any other restaurant.
This makes the Reader's failure to provide the actual website more egregious. They're actively facilitating ignorance that then lets the middlemen swoop in and eat at the restaurant's revenue. One step forward with a positive review (which is earned by the restaurant's product, not a gift), two steps back by omitting key details. Really disappointing.Katie wrote:I'm just surprised to discover that Google Maps is apparently providing links that redirect people to online ordering interfaces rather than actual restaurant websites. I wonder how many times I've fallen for this in the past. Do the restaurants consent to this? Maybe so. Maybe they have no say in the matter. My gripe here, just to be clear, is with Google Maps, not with this HD Cuisine or any other restaurant.
The fact a poster has shown that the online search leads a prospective customer to a 3rd party ordering platform instead of the restaurant's own website, that's praised in the article itself, shows how ignorant your condescending comment is.WhyBeeSea wrote:Sula writes a lengthy article about a suburban restaurant that very few people know about, and dude complains about something that takes 30 seconds to find online. That's some good stuff
polster wrote:go to HD Cuisine if you like it spicy to ask for their homemade chili oil/hot sauce